collaboration

Sometimes, a mildly interesting idea takes root and then morphs into something you never expected. That has happened to me this year, and I cannot contain how excited I am about it. A toe in the PBLL waters At the beginning of this past summer, I was planning for Camp Musicuentos, deciding on what unit […]

Tried stepping outside the textbook to use the target-culture world instead? This stuff is hard, people. Or at least, incredibly time-consuming. Textbooks aren’t so expensive because they weren’t a lot of work. Shall we start the school year by sharing the load? Wherever you are and whatever you’re teaching, I invite you to join me in […]

Stuck and confused. Those are the two words that describe how I feel as I contemplate what I want to change, do, and be in 2016. (No, I don’t have to have it figured out by January 1. There’s a lot of 2016 left.) I’m thankful for the online language teaching community for helping me find some […]

Here at TFLA, as I do at many workshops and sessions, I’ll be asking participants to share their ideas, creativity, and lessons learned with those who aren’t able to be here. Most frequently I invite them to do that via Google Drive. I have discovered, however, that not everyone is familiar with how to share […]

Here begins a flurry of posts related to my presentations and workshops at the Texas Foreign Language Association’s conference this weekend. First, our workshop (by our I mean I’m doing this with Amy Lenord, John Cadena, Melissa Vargas) on Thursday night is called Twitter 101 and is about how and why to get involved with a professional […]

Given how long Thomas Sauer and I have been colleagues and friends, I can’t believe we haven’t presented together before. Well, we fixed that on Saturday and presented a 3-hour workshop on effective lesson planning. Two things: 1. Three hours was not enough. 2. I learned at least as much from Thomas as anyone there learned […]

I’m looking forward to participating in a special interview with Paulino Brener on his EPC Show in about a week. Join us online to talk about motivational aspects of our curricula. Cross-posted from Paulino Brener at epcshow.com and you’ll find out more about where to find the video here: Join me on Saturday February 28 […]

Here’s another trend I’d like us all to resolve to change this year (the first was to stop beating ourselves up thinking our students’ learning is entirely up to us). If you don’t participate in a listserv (which is like being on an email list with a bunch of other teachers) or a Twitter chat (WHY NOT?!?!) […]

Since I had my precious Cottrell-itos on my trip to the annual conference of the Indiana Foreign Language Teacher’s Association, I didn’t get to spend as much time involved in the conference as I would have liked to, but I did greatly enjoy the time I did have. I reconnected with “old” friends, made new […]

A few teachers had expressed interest in coming to hang out with me for a day, and I’ve finally been able to schedule such a thing. If you don’t live far from the Louisville area and you’d like to come “talk shop” with me on Monday, April 28, please let me know through the contact […]

If you haven’t subscribed to these blogs yet, get on it! These innovative teachers started blogging in 2013 (or not long before) and are generously sharing their great ideas and advice: 1. Maris Hawkins With Brillante Viernes and game and activity ideas, Maris Hawkins shares what’s shaking things up in her middle school classroom. 2. AmyLenord.net One […]